1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to crop harvesters having conveyor means for transferring harvested crops to a receptacle which is separate from the harvester, such harvesters being hereinafter referred to as direct-loading harvesters. More particularly, the present invention concerns an improved direct-loading harvester of the type which includes a discharge elevator projecting laterally and outwardly of the harvester vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Direct-loading harvesters have been known in the art for many years and have recently come into prevalent use in the tomato harvesting field. Such harvesters are arranged to harvest tomato plants grown in rows, to elevate the harvested plants to shaker conveyors for separating tomatoes from their vines, to carry the tomatoes from the shaker conveyors to sorter conveyors when undesired tomatoes and trash are removed, and to finally elevate the remaining tomatoes from the harvester to an attendant truck or trailer for delivery elsewhere.
U.S. patents which disclose various forms of direct-loading tomato harvesters are listed as follows: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,690,383; 3,579,968; 3,566,881, 3,511,038; 3,469,383; 3,437,151; 3,390,768; 3,340,935; and 3,078,926. Many of these prior art harvester machines employ a discharge elevator comprising a single element which extends from a lower portion of the side of the harvester upwardly to a distance well above the delivery bin or receptacle of the attendant truck or trailer. A decelerator device, or chute, is customarily employed at the discharge end of the elevator to slow down the descent of the fragile tomatoes after they are ejected from the elevator.
In order to assure proper loading of the delivery receptacle, it has been found to be preferable to employ a dog-leg type of elevator assembly. By dog-leg assembly, it is meant that the elevator includes a lower portion, or leg, extending from the side of the harvester and an upper, or second, leg pivotably connected to the upper end of the lower leg and having the decelerator mechanism at the discharge end thereof. Usually, the lower leg is substantially longer than the upper leg, the upper leg serving mainly to carry the crops from the lower leg to a selected vertically spaced position above the delivery receptacle. A dog-leg conveyor, although not extending upwardly from the lower portion of the side of a harvester and thus not functioning as an elevator, is shown in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,968, wherein a first conveyor section extends horizontally from a high location on the harvester and a second outer conveyor section extends outwardly from the outer end of the first portion. In this prior art apparatus, the outer conveyor section is pivotally connected to the first conveyor section and is removable. In harvesters of this type, it is conventional for the removable outer conveyor section to have its own conveyor belt and drive unit.
To enable the harvester to be moved conveniently and safely from field to field, the prior art elevators or discharge conveyors were either pivoted upwardly as much as possible toward the vertical at the side of the harvester, or the elevator (or its outer leg) was removed from the harvester and transported separately. The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,968, for example, discloses two typical transport modes for discharge conveyors. In the form having a single element elevator tilted upwardly from the bottom side position on the harvester, the whole elevator is taken off the harvester before the harvester is driven off the field. In the other form, involving the aforedescribed articulated type of conveyor, the outer portion is removed from the harvester and stored separately (e.g., on the feeder elevator of the harvester); because of this requirement, the outer conveyor section will typically have an independent belt and drive mechanism.
The removal and separate storage of either all or a portion of the discharge conveyor requires special equipment, such as fork-lift trucks or cranes, and generally is a time-consuming, unproductive operation. The known elevators are too bulky to be handled without such equipment. This is particularly true of the known harvesters having dog-leg types of discharge elevators wherein both sections of the elevator are removed to put the harvester in a transport mode.
The harvesters having a single leg discharge conveyor folded upwardly for shipment have also proven to be unsatisfactory due to the width and height of the harvester as a whole when the conveyor is in such a stow position. When this type of direct-loading harvester is moved by truck from field to field, or from the manufacturer to the user, the discharge elevator projects hazardously high above the road surface.